Here's your Mass Effect 2 box art.

Bioware have revealed what you'll be looking for on store shelves come 2010. Mass Effect 2, their anticipated sequel to one of the best space opera/RPGs ever made, drops sometime between January and March next year. And here's the official box art.

As expected, Shepard looks like he's cracking skulls and taking names. And I suppose that's Wrex in the background.

But that girl on the left better not be Ashley. Because in my Mass Effect universe, that xenophobic skank is pushing up daisies. 

2009 becomes slightly less awesome.

Initially, the games release schedule for 2009 was rather lean. Around April or May though, rumblings started to become evident that things were about to change and game after game would drop on our unsuspecting wallets and Q4 of this year would blow our minds out our arses. 

But that has unfortunately been scaled back a bit. A whole bunch of amazing-looking games have all been delayed until 2010: The Year We Make Contact. The list of games is as follows, along with my reaction to each delay.

Mafia 2 - meh

Bioshock 2 - meh

Max Payne 3 - Fuck!

Bayonetta - meh

Red Dead Redemption - Fuck!

Splinter Cell: Conviction - Fuck!

Red Steel 2 - meh

So as a result, the first quarter of 2010 is now shaping up to be MINDBLOWING. In addition to the above games, the below games are also coming out around that time...

Mass Effect 2

Alan Wake

Final Fantasy 13

Heavy Rain

But there's still a few nuggets of gold to be had in 2009 folks. Namely these...

Batman lands in August. Finally.

AUGUST 28TH Y'ALL!

That's right, after months of speculation and delays it looks as if the end of August will be when Batman: Arkham Asylum finally ships in Australia. Publisher Eidos revealed that North America will get the game on August 25th and Europe on August 28th. Atari are distributing the game in our great brown land and confirmed that the European date will be the same as ours.

So rejoice! Celebrate! Get ready to punch the fuck out of dudes while vowing on the grave of your parents to rid the city of the evil that took their lives! Woooo!

In addition to a release date, there's been yet another trailer released (I think that makes about 10,483 so far) and it just keeps looking better.

There's also been some interesting new screenshots of a few foes. 

Harley Quinn, seconds before getting the fuck punched out of her.

God knows what Joker is doing to this guard.

Here's the first shot I've seen of Mr Zsasz. Scars intact.

All of a sudden, July is Lucasarts month.

Fancy spending some cash? Of course you do. And what better way to do that but on awesome old and new Lucasarts games which seem to all be dropping all within the next week. Dropping right into your hands like a big pile of...um...something...I don't know. Something good.

Firstly, you've got the brand new Monkey Island game from Telltale. The episodic extravaganza that is Tales of Monkey Island starts off with episode one entitled Launch of The Screaming Narwhal. And that's released on PC today July 7. So if you have any brains, you'll be playing it rather than reading this. But hold on, keep reading.

Next, being released tomorrow (July 8) is a fat stack of old Lucasarts titles on Steam. Apparently this will be a continuing thing for Lucasarts but to begin with, they're releasing on PC:

- LOOM

- Indiana Jones and The Fate Of Atlantis

- Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure

- The Dig

- Armed And Dangerous

- LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure

- Star Wars Battlefront II

- Star Wars Starfighter

- Star Wars Republic Commando

- Thrillville: Off The Rails

And last but not least, they've announced a release date for Secret Of Monkey Island: Special Edition for Xbox Live Arcade and PC. IT'S JULY 15TH WHICH IS NEXT WEDNESDAY OH MY GOD...

And remember, if you buy this newfangled HD version of the game, Lucasarts have publicly stated they would love to do more. Save your weekly wages, head down to Cash Converters, betray your blood relatives - just do ANYTHING do get some money because you need to be buying this good stuff. Go now! For the good of video games everywhere!

And go buy a pair of these while you're at it.

No, I still have no idea.

It's July already and we still have no official release date for Batman: Arkham Asylum in Australia. Well, no reliable date anyway.

Eidos, developers of the game, have announced that the US release date will be August 25th and the European date is August 28th. But no definite word on when the game will reach our shores. To make matters worse, game stores in Australia are a dog's breakfast when it comes to consistent dates. Some say 3rd of September, others say the game is already out. Anger level, rising.

Anyway to tide us over yet again, there's another trailer out there. Talking to some of the developers and LEGENDARY WRITER PAUL DINI WHO IS WRITING THE DAMN GAME, the video sets out the game to be Batman's worst nightmare. Sounds good to me folks.

An Aliens RPG died this week.

If you weren't already aware, there were a total of three video games based on the Alien/s films in development. But now there's only two.

This week, Obsidian Entertainment (makers of Neverwinter Nights and the upcoming awesome-looking Alpha Protocol) released an official statement ringing the deathknell for their Aliens role-playing game. And then publisher Sega (makers of uh, Sonic) echoed their sentiments. A few days later they released some concept art to show the world what exactly the game would have looked like. On the alien side of things anyway. I have to admit, as a huge fan of the Alien franchise, I can't really decide whether these are fascinating or dumb. Regardless, at least it ain't the newborn alien from Alien: Resurrection.

At least it's not the newborn from Alien: Resurrection. At least it's not the newborn from Alien: Resurrection. At least it's not the newborn from Alien: Resurrection.

As far as the other games are concerned, there's a new Alien Vs Predator game in the works. And of course, the long overdue Aliens: Colonial Marines is still occasionally popping up to say it still exists. No word yet on the state or release date of either of these games. But seeing as Colonial Marines is shaping up to be Rainbow Six Vegas but with Aliens - I AM SOLD.